Lone Ranger
09-24-2005, 01:56 PM
Here is the text of an obituary of obscure Canadian Golden Age comic creator, Fred Kelly. It provides a good overview of the state of the Canadian comic book publishing world circa WW2.
I sent this to Michael T. Gilbert this morning, and he thanked me for passing it along. He had already heard of Kelly's passing from local comic book historian Robert Pincombe. Michael T. said that he was glad to have met Mr. Kelly more than 3 decades after first stumbling on his work, and he was flattered to be mentioned in the article.
FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL
VICTORIA -- Fred Kelly was an artist from Canada's brief golden age of superhero comics. He created the original Mr. Monster and then vanished until tracked down last year by a diligent fan.
Mr. Kelly drew for Bell Features of Toronto during the Second World War, as government restrictions on American periodicals gave birth to a homegrown
comic-book industry. In place of Superman, Batman, Torch, The Shield and countless others, Canadian artists churned out scores of characters. Among Mr. Kelly's creations was Dr. Jim (Doc) Stearne, a medical doctor and crack marksman who hunted monsters. Mr. Monster, as his alter ego was known, appeared in the third issue of "Super Duper Comics." Mr. Monster wore
black boots and white gauntlets, a helmet with goggles, and a red body stocking with a white skull on the chest. He was armed with a pistol and boasted no special powers other than his wits.
According to Library and Archives Canada, Bell comics varied in quality but were identifiably Canadian. Mr. Kelly joined a stable of such Canadian artists as Adrian Pringle, who produced the heroes Nelvana of The Northern Lights and the Penguin, and illustrator Edmund Legault, who drew Dixon of the Mounted. Also part of the Bell lineup was Phantom Rider by Jerry Lazare and the character Rex Baxter, drawn by Edmond Good. Best known, however, was Johnny Canuck. Drawn by Leo Bachle, who died in 2003 and also went by the name of Rex Barker, "Johnny Canuck -- Canada's answer to Nazi oppression" had no powers other than an inexhaustible source of courage and a killer
right-hook.
Bell Features was not alone in stepping into the regulatory gap. Such other publishers as Vancouver's Maple Leaf Publishing and Anglo-American Publishing of Toronto also offered their own fighters of crime and fascism, including such homegrown heroes and heroines as Freelance, Black Wing and Commander Steel, to name a few.
Interestingly, Mr. Kelly also chose to work for a less dashing line of characters offered by Educational Projects of Montreal. Published as Canadian Heroes,
the series featured profiles of prime ministers and other worthies, and was surely more popular among parents and teachers than the children on whom they were foisted. Among the real-life figures given the comic treatment was First World War air ace Raymond Collishaw, hockey star Howie Morenz, and Sir John A. Macdonald. Canadian Heroes did offer one clean-cut fictional hero, a stalwart named Canada Jack who combined healthy outdoor activities with crime-busting and spy-fighting.
Among the other characters he created for Bell were Betty Burd, a shapely roving reporter who found every opportunity to wear a revealing swimsuit; Cinder Smith, the manager of a train station in the Rockies; Steve Storm, a monocle-wearing British commissioner in colonial Africa; and race car driver Clip Curtis, The King of the Dirt Track.
After the war, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Monster returned to obscurity, as Canadian publications became overwhelmed by American imports, but not before trying his luck in the United States. In 1946, he worked with Damon Runyan and produced a comic strip that featured characters from the writer's popular stories about the gamblers, petty thieves, actors and gangsters of New
York's Prohibition period. To be titled The Other Half, it was on the cusp of acceptance by a major publisher when Mr. Runyon died and the project
collapsed.
After that, Mr. Kelly returned home and attended the University of Toronto to study medical illustration. He graduated in 1949, found steady work as an
illustrator and then took up a successful career selling real estate in the Toronto area, most notably in the Willowdale area where he was a partner in Kelly & Craig Realtors.
The Mr. Monster character was revived in 1984 by Michael T. Gilbert, an American illustrator who had purchased a coverless copy of the original in 1971.The rejuvenated hero was presented as the son of Doc Stearne.
Just last year, Toronto comics historian Robert Pincombe tracked down Mr. Kelly, who had retired and divided his time between Mexico and Owen Sound, Ont. Mr. Kelly, who taught art classes in his retirement, attended the Toronto Comicon 2004 convention in June, where he appeared on a panel with contemporaries Ed Furness and Jerry Lazare. He also got to meet Mr.
Gilbert.
"He was gratified, but thought the whole thing was all a bit silly," said Mr. Pincombe. "He felt it was great to be remembered and was pleased to learn that Mr. Monster had come back but didn't want a piece of it. He was a very pragmatic man."
Frederick George Kelly was born in Toronto on Sept. 8, 1921. He died in Owen Sound, Ont., on Sept. 14 as the result of a stroke suffered in 2003. He was 84. He leaves his wife, Rita, a son; two daughters, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
I sent this to Michael T. Gilbert this morning, and he thanked me for passing it along. He had already heard of Kelly's passing from local comic book historian Robert Pincombe. Michael T. said that he was glad to have met Mr. Kelly more than 3 decades after first stumbling on his work, and he was flattered to be mentioned in the article.
FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL
VICTORIA -- Fred Kelly was an artist from Canada's brief golden age of superhero comics. He created the original Mr. Monster and then vanished until tracked down last year by a diligent fan.
Mr. Kelly drew for Bell Features of Toronto during the Second World War, as government restrictions on American periodicals gave birth to a homegrown
comic-book industry. In place of Superman, Batman, Torch, The Shield and countless others, Canadian artists churned out scores of characters. Among Mr. Kelly's creations was Dr. Jim (Doc) Stearne, a medical doctor and crack marksman who hunted monsters. Mr. Monster, as his alter ego was known, appeared in the third issue of "Super Duper Comics." Mr. Monster wore
black boots and white gauntlets, a helmet with goggles, and a red body stocking with a white skull on the chest. He was armed with a pistol and boasted no special powers other than his wits.
According to Library and Archives Canada, Bell comics varied in quality but were identifiably Canadian. Mr. Kelly joined a stable of such Canadian artists as Adrian Pringle, who produced the heroes Nelvana of The Northern Lights and the Penguin, and illustrator Edmund Legault, who drew Dixon of the Mounted. Also part of the Bell lineup was Phantom Rider by Jerry Lazare and the character Rex Baxter, drawn by Edmond Good. Best known, however, was Johnny Canuck. Drawn by Leo Bachle, who died in 2003 and also went by the name of Rex Barker, "Johnny Canuck -- Canada's answer to Nazi oppression" had no powers other than an inexhaustible source of courage and a killer
right-hook.
Bell Features was not alone in stepping into the regulatory gap. Such other publishers as Vancouver's Maple Leaf Publishing and Anglo-American Publishing of Toronto also offered their own fighters of crime and fascism, including such homegrown heroes and heroines as Freelance, Black Wing and Commander Steel, to name a few.
Interestingly, Mr. Kelly also chose to work for a less dashing line of characters offered by Educational Projects of Montreal. Published as Canadian Heroes,
the series featured profiles of prime ministers and other worthies, and was surely more popular among parents and teachers than the children on whom they were foisted. Among the real-life figures given the comic treatment was First World War air ace Raymond Collishaw, hockey star Howie Morenz, and Sir John A. Macdonald. Canadian Heroes did offer one clean-cut fictional hero, a stalwart named Canada Jack who combined healthy outdoor activities with crime-busting and spy-fighting.
Among the other characters he created for Bell were Betty Burd, a shapely roving reporter who found every opportunity to wear a revealing swimsuit; Cinder Smith, the manager of a train station in the Rockies; Steve Storm, a monocle-wearing British commissioner in colonial Africa; and race car driver Clip Curtis, The King of the Dirt Track.
After the war, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Monster returned to obscurity, as Canadian publications became overwhelmed by American imports, but not before trying his luck in the United States. In 1946, he worked with Damon Runyan and produced a comic strip that featured characters from the writer's popular stories about the gamblers, petty thieves, actors and gangsters of New
York's Prohibition period. To be titled The Other Half, it was on the cusp of acceptance by a major publisher when Mr. Runyon died and the project
collapsed.
After that, Mr. Kelly returned home and attended the University of Toronto to study medical illustration. He graduated in 1949, found steady work as an
illustrator and then took up a successful career selling real estate in the Toronto area, most notably in the Willowdale area where he was a partner in Kelly & Craig Realtors.
The Mr. Monster character was revived in 1984 by Michael T. Gilbert, an American illustrator who had purchased a coverless copy of the original in 1971.The rejuvenated hero was presented as the son of Doc Stearne.
Just last year, Toronto comics historian Robert Pincombe tracked down Mr. Kelly, who had retired and divided his time between Mexico and Owen Sound, Ont. Mr. Kelly, who taught art classes in his retirement, attended the Toronto Comicon 2004 convention in June, where he appeared on a panel with contemporaries Ed Furness and Jerry Lazare. He also got to meet Mr.
Gilbert.
"He was gratified, but thought the whole thing was all a bit silly," said Mr. Pincombe. "He felt it was great to be remembered and was pleased to learn that Mr. Monster had come back but didn't want a piece of it. He was a very pragmatic man."
Frederick George Kelly was born in Toronto on Sept. 8, 1921. He died in Owen Sound, Ont., on Sept. 14 as the result of a stroke suffered in 2003. He was 84. He leaves his wife, Rita, a son; two daughters, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.